Chemistry of Fishing

Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network

Chemistry Connections

Chemistry of fishing

Episode #10

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Ryan Foret and I am your host for episode #10 called Chemistry of Fishing Today I will be discussing the different examples of chemistry in various aspects of fishing.

Segment 1: Introduction to Fishing

The thrill of reeling in a fish and fighting against it is one of the most exhilarating things that humans can do for fun. What makes the sport even better is that almost anyone can do it with minimal equipment and cost. That being said, there is a variety of high-end and complex gear that experienced fishermen use. And I bet if you talk to any long time fisherman they will complain about why a bendy stick is over 500 dollars. But beginner fishermen don’t really need to worry about that.

Fishing can be very simple or very complicated depending on how deep you want to dive into the different types of gear and techniques that can be used.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Fishing

Today, we are going to dive deeper than any fisherman usually does in their lifetime and look at fishing on the molecular level. And that is what today’s episode is all about: the chemistry behind fishing.

Let’s start with diving deeper into the most dreaded thing that people think about when they hear “fish”; the smell. A certain chemical compound is the culprit of the fishy smell of fish. Trimethylamine (TMA) is what gives fish its odor. It’s derived from Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) which protects saltwater fish from their salty environment. TMAO has nitrogen as its central atom with 3 CH3 groups and and an oxygen bonded to it. The oxygen atom breaks off of the compound and TMAO turns into TMA as the fish dies. This explains why old fish smells very bad and fresh fish shouldn’t have a foul odor.

Next, I want to talk about the chemistry behind the gear used to catch fish. Starting with fishing rods. Fishing rods are made from graphite and carbon fiber. Graphite is a covalent network solid made from carbon atoms that is very strong. Covalent network solids are solids made from nonmetals covalently bonded to each other that create lattice structures. Some examples of other covalent network solids are Diamond and silicon dioxide.

Many people think of graphite as very weak and brittle because of the number 2 pencils made from graphite they use in school every day. But graphite is quite strong due to the hexagonal honeycomb lattice of the material’s molecular structure. In fact, the only thing separating graphite from diamond which is one of the hardest materials on earth is one carbon atom.

The graphite in fishing rods is made into sheets made of graphite fibers that can bend and form around a center of material called the mandrel which is usually steel. The sheets of carbon are very strong and don’t break when stretched, but they can break under compression. This is why rods break on the underside where the material is compressed.

One of the most important pieces of fishing equipment is the hook. Fishing hooks need to be very sharp and thin but also extremely strong. This is why Fishing hooks are made from alloys such as Vanadium steel. Let’s step away from talking about fishing for a minute to talk about alloys. Alloys are metals that are mixed with other atoms to create a new, stronger metal that has different properties. There are two types of alloys; Interstitial and substitutional. Today we are going to focus on interstitial alloys. The most popular interstitial alloy is steel. Steel is made from iron with carbon atoms in between. The alloy is stronger than pure metals because the atoms are different sizes and are positioned between each other which makes it harder for sheets of atoms to slide past each other. Vanadium steel is an interstitial alloy made from .5% carbon, .8% manganese, .3% silicon , 1% chromium , and .18% vanadium . The rest is iron atoms

When fishing in saltwater, however, fishermen have to deal with the corrosive environment of the salt. This is why saltwater hooks are usually made from stainless steel, which isn’t as strong as carbon steel like Vanadium steel but it is corrosion resistant and doesn’t rust easily. Stainless steel is a steel alloy that contains a minimum chromium content of 10.5%. The chromium reacts with the oxygen in the air and forms a protective layer that makes stainless steel highly resistant to corrosion and rust.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

Ok so that wraps up the chemistry portion of this podcast. Now I’m going to give you some insight on why im so passionate about this topic to wrap up the episode.

I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember because my dad introduced me to it at a very young age. I fell in love with the thrill of the sport and the memories I have made with my dad on fishing trips are unforgettable. I have become a very experienced fisherman over the years and I always want to know more about the sport. That is why I made this podcast to learn about fishing on a deeper level and I hope you learned as much as I did.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com.